Machine for manufacturing coiled-wire fabric



Aug. 5. 1924. v 1,503,945

H. A. FRASER ET AL MIA CHINE FOR MANUFACTURING GOILED'WIRE FABRICOriginal Filed Aug. 27. 192] 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug.

H. A. FRASER ET AL.

Original Filed Aug. 27. 192i 3 Sheets-Sheet :3

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I H. A. FRASER ET AL MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING COILED WIRE FABRICOriginal Filed Aug. 27 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 5, 1924.

HENRY ARTHUR FRASER AND PETER'EREDERIGK GRIGHTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING COIL ED-WIRE FABRIC.

Original application filed August 27, 1921, sriai no. 495,986.

1922. Divided and this application filed July 1,

To all whom it may concern. I

Be it known that we, HENRY A THUR FRASER and PETER FREDERICK, CRIGHTON,subjects of the King'of Great Britain, resid ing at 13 lVharf Road,London, England, have invented newand useful Improvements in Machinesfor MannfacturingCoiled VVire 3 Fabric, cation.

This invention relates to the coiled wire fabrics, such, for instance,as are used for mattresses, of the class known as diagonal or interlacedweave, .and this appli-' cation is a divisionof Patent No. 1,431,645[

of which the following isa specifi- According. to one method this classof weave has been efiected partly mechani cal means and partly byhand,that is to say, the coiling ofthe wire to form each strandhas beeneffected by a machine whilst the severing and the posltiomng or longitudnal movement of the last severed COll or-strandand the fabric to enablethe neat coil or strand to be run in to engagetherewith-has beeneffected by hand.

In another" method the fabric has' been made in strips by a machinebutinsteadof the finished strips being rectangularthey have had twoopposite edgesinclined with I respect to the other two edges.

In another method the fabric is "madein continuous widths by a machineinwhich the coillng, severing and posltloning mechanisms are controlled byhand and in thiscase the fabric has two opposite edges inclined withrespect to the other two.

Now, the object of the invention is to prodnce a fabric of diagonal orinterlaced weave" of rectangular form and to this end weadapt machinessuch as are used for weaving plain coiled wire fabrics embodying coilngmechanism, severing mechanism and positioning mechanism.

erally, the fabric after the last coil of each Patent No; 1,431,645,dated October 10, 1922; Serial No. 572,345.

set is position being positioned to enable the first coil ofthe'neXt setto be run in, the cut ends of every first coil of each set being levelor terminating in a straight line which is at right angles to theaxes ofthe coils themselves and consequently to the coils forming the endsofthe fabric. To adapt the positioning rollers for gripping and I e vfeeding: the; fabric laterally we arrange the weaving of ribsor finsthereon spirally instead of-longitudinally, I 7

To enable the invention to be-fully under stood we will describe it byreference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig l isa plan of amachine constructed according to the invention for manufacturing orweaving coiledwirefabrics and Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of thesame.

Fig; .3 is a-horizontal section on the'line -3, F

Fig. iis'a view of the right hand'side of the-machine, and V Fig. 5 isa' sectional view of a opposite side thereof. 7 7

Fig.6 is a rear view of the machine, and

Figs, 7, 8 and 9 are respectively vertical sections on the lines 77, 8 8and 99 of Fig. 6, certain parts being omitted from each of these figuresfor the sake of clearness.

Fig. 10 is an elevation of a portion of the frame of the machine showingsome of the bearings.

.Fig. 11 is an enlarged section on the line 11 -11, Fig. 1,illustrating" clearly the positioning rollers.

l2 is'an elevation showing the falling weight and lever operatedthereby.

Fig. 13 is asection of-a modified form of positioning roller.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view of one of the part of the f frictionclutches.

In a suitable arrangement for carrying out the invention we make use ofa machine such asdescribed in our Patent No. 1,431,6 lf5;

Fig. l5; is adevelopment ofthe surface of the drum carrying the cams foreffecting the lateral and longitudinal movements of the feed rollers,the operation of the coiling gear and the operation of the wire severingmechanism.

Fig. 16 is a plan showing the grooved mandrel along which the coiledwire travels from the coiling mechanism, the severing cutting mechanism,the comb for assisting to maintain the last made coils in their properrelative positions longitudinally and the positioning rollers in dottedlines, the said figure illustrating the first stage of the manufactureof diagonal weave fabric.

Fig. 17 is a front elevation of the said mechanism but without thesevering devices and drawn to a smaller scale than Fig. 1.

Fig. 18 is a plan of the positioning rollers but drawn to an enlargedscale and Fig. 19 is a cross section through the con- .tiguous portionsof the said rollers showing their relationship to the fabric.

Figs. 20, 21 and 22 are somewhat similar views to Fig. 1, but showingfurther and progressive stages in the manufacture of the diagonal weavefabric.

Fig. 23 is a plan of a piece of such fabric.

Fig. 24 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the order or arrangement ofthe cams shown in Fig. 15. c

Fig. 25 is a similar view of the order or arrangement, of such cams asdescribed in the specification of our Patent No. 1,431,645 formanufacturing fabrics of plain weave.

a is the frame or base of the machine provided with three standards a aa Between the standards a a are arranged the feed rollers for thecoiling mechanism and comprising the upper plain roller 1) and the lowergrooved roller 6 the peripheries of which rollers revolve nearly incontact with one another. The said rollers are geared together so as torun at equal speeds by means of rings of spur teeth b 0 is the wire tobe coiTed and which is drawn from a spool in the usual way and may be inone. two or more plies, the said wire or wires lying in the groove 6 inthe roller 5 and belng gripped therein by pressure of the top roller 1)thereon, and fed into the coil ing die 0 of usual or known form. The toproller 6 is supported upon a shaft 05 carried in bush bearings e, c inthe standards a a respectively. The bush 6 is held in position in arecess 6 in the standarda and is pressed upon its upper part by a rubberblock 0 to which pressure can be imparted by set screws 6 through themedium of a. plate 6 the said screws passing through the cap a". Thebearing 6 is supported in a recess a in the standard a and can beadjusted therein through the medium of set screws 6 to impart thenecessary pressure to the wirec (or wires). A rubber block e isadvantageously interposed between the bush 6 and a covering cap 6connected to the upper part of the standard 6 The roller 19 is supportedon a shaft f arranged in hearings in the standards 48, a and designed tobe rotated to effect the rotation of the rollers b, b from a shaft 7supported. in bearings at the top of the said standards a a through themedium of a train of three gear wheels 7. The said shaft 7 has connectedthereto one member f of a friction clutch, the other member f of whichis loose on the said shaft and is in the form of a pulley which isconstantly rotated by a suitable belt and when pressed into contact withthe member i effects the rotation of the rollers 5', 6 The members F, iconstitute the main clutch and have arranged between them a spring 7.

g is the controlling lever pivoted at one end by a shaft g to thestandard 66, the said shaft being provided with arms g which engageholes in lugs g on a disc mounted loosely on the shaft 7 and bearingagainst the pulley 7, so that, when the said lever g is rocked in onedirection on its pivot, the member 7 of the main clutch will be pressedinto contact with the other member F. g is-the catch for'holding thecontrolling lever g in position after it has effected the pressingtogether of the two members of the main clutch, the said catch, which ispivoted at g to the standard a engaging, under the pull of a spring g9,a hooked projection g on the lever g, the said lever being heldin thisposition against the pull of a spring 9 The coiling gear is designed tobe intermittently driven and to enable this to be effected, we providemeans for disengaging the catch g from the hook projection g on thecontrolling lever Forthis purpose, we'rprovide the horizontal bar itslidably supported in a guide 72, carried on the standards a a andhaving'rack teeth 72. in mesh with a pinion it as shown clearly in Fig.3. This pinion is rotated by a clutch, preferably in the form of a splittapered sleeve h Figs. 2, 5 and 14, fitted within a central hole in thesaid pinion and formed on or attached to, a

gear wheel its, the latter meshing with a worm h on the shaft f andbeing carried in a bearing in a pillar h[ Within the split sleeve 72, isfitted a taper pin h designed to be moved within the sleeve it so as toeX-' pand the latter into tight contact with the the movement of thesaid bar it to strike the catch 9 can be varied according tothe time atwhich it is required to run the coiling gear and consequently the lengthof coil or strand produced.

The coiled wire is fed from the die 0 around the grooved mandrel 0 inthe known manner, the end of the said mandrel forming one surface 0 of apair of cutting surfaces, the other one 0 of which is movable andsupported and carried by a lever 0 actuated as hereinafter described.This lever is pivoted at 0 to a bracket 0 carried on the frame a, thesaid bracket also serving for supporting the mandrel 0 2', 2' are thepositioning rollers arranged horizontally one above the other, with aspace between them to grip each row of coils in turn of the fabric beingmade, the said rollers being located with their axes parallel to theaxis of the coiled wire lying between the mandrel c and the coiling die0 but out of line therewith and just beyond the rear end of the mandrelc as indicated in Fig. 1, so that, say, after two rows of coils havebeen issued from said mandrel in succession and linked with one another,the second row as indicated clearly in Fig. 11, will be located betweenthe positioning rollers 2', 71 so that the latter can, by rotating inthe direction of the arrows, feed the fabric to receive fresh rows inturn, as hereinafter described. The coils as they issue from the mandrel0 run on to the table A, the upper surface of which is level with theupper surface of the lower roller z'.

The rollers i, 2' are provided respectively with spirally arranged teethm and spiral ribs m so as to grip the coils as indicated in Fig. 11; andhereinafter more fully described. Fig. 13 is a cross section of thepositioning roller 2' in which fins i are substituted for the ribs 00. i2' are the housings in which the rollers i, 2' are carried on centres ithese housings being hinged together as indicated at 2', Fig. 9, anddrawn towards one another by springs i attached at one end to lugs onthe housing and at the other end to the base a. j is the slide uponwhich the housings carrying the rollers i, 2' are mounted so thatlongitudinal movement can be imparted to the said rollers forpositioning the fabric so that the new or running coil is engaged withthe coils already made at the pro-per point. This slide works in guidesy' on the frame a and is actuated from a cam j in the form of a rib on adrum j through the medium of a lever j adjustably pivoted to the frame aat f. This cam is carried on a shaft is mounted in beai' Z1 on the framea and driven by a worm wheel on the shaft 17L from a worm 7.1, carriedon a shaft k mounted in bearings in the standards (l c This shaft 1 0carries a friction wheel designed to be driven from the pulley f throughthe medium of the friction roller is, which is brought into contact withboth the belt on the pulley f and the wheel 70 by a pair of t gle levers71: 76. These levers are slidably supported on fulcrum pins 70 on thestandard a and jointed together at k the outer end of the lever 71arrying the roller k", whilst the outer end of the lever 70 is pivotedto the controlling lever g. It will thus be seen that when thecontrolling lever is moved upwardly it disengages the main clutchmembers f and f and at the same time moves the friction roller 70 intoc0n tact with the driving belt f surrounding the pulley f and thusdrives the wheel 77 and consequently rotates the cam drum j For rotatingthe positioning rollers 2', 2' the lower roller 2' is provided at itsfront end with ratchet teeth Z, as shown clearly in Fig. 11,corresponding in number with the ribs 2' thereon, so that the saidroller can be fed or rotated one rib at a time, in order to displace thecoiled fabric laterally one coil at a time. Z is a pawl engaging withthe said ratchet teeth and carried on a short lever Z pivoted on one ofthe centres carrying the roller 2', the said lever being oscillated by apin Z on a bell crank lever Z actuated by a cam Z carried on the drum jthe said bell crank lever being fulcrumed on the frame a by a shaft Zwhich also carries an arm Z This arm Z through the medium of a pin Zrocks another arm m to impart movement to a bar m resting on the tableA, which bar forms a guide for the running coil and assists the rollersz'. 2' to feed the fabric after each coil is inserted. This feedingmovement is effected simultaneously with the feed movement of the saidrollers 2', 2' through the movement of the said arms Z m from the bellcrank lever Z, the arm m being fulcrumed on a shaft m carryingupstanding arms m which bear against one side of the bar m and actuatethe latter to feed the fabric against the pull of tension springs m n isthe cam for effecting the severing of the coils, after being run on tothe table A, by means of the cutting surfaces 0 c. This cam actuates alever M, Fig. 8, ful-' crumed at m to the bracket 0 and bearing upon alug n on an upright rod n pivoted at n to the lever 0 The rod n slidesand is guided in a hole in the frame a and is pressed upwardly incontact with the. lever n by a spring 92 In order to keep the runningcoil in con tact with the bar 971 we employ an electromagnet m the facesof the pole pieces m of which are level with the guide surface of thesaid bar m This magnet is energized, each time a coil is run into thefabric, by a switch in the form of a drum m carried upon the shaft isand having contacts m with which a brush m in electrical connection withone terminal of the magnet makes contact four times in each revolutionof the shaft 70. These contacts 122. are in permanent electricalconnection by a brush m with one pole of a source of current. the otherpole of which is in electrical connection with the other terminal of themagnet.

0 is a cam for automatically effecting the movement of the controllinglever g to throw in the main clutch to drive the coiling gear and stopthe rotation of the cam shaft 70. This (:am actuates a lever 0 fulcrumedat 0 to a lug on the frame 0; and connected at its upper end by a rod 0to a lever 0 pivoted at 0 to the standard a the cam 0 moving the rod 0against the pressure of a spring 0 located between the end of the saidrod '0 and a bracket 0" attached to the frame (t. This lever 0, untilactuated. by the cam 0, presses against the taper pin 3) of a clutchmechanism similar to that described in connection with the pinion ]L3.This pin 79 islocated inra hole formed in one end of the shaft 7', thesaid end being split and formed taper to it the pin p and has fitted onits outer surface a loose sleeve p to which is attached a cord pcarrying at its lower end a weight 32 shown clearly in Fig. 12. Belowthe weight 30 is arranged a lever p hinged to the floor 39 or to asuitable part of the machine, and connected by a cord or wire ;0 to theouter end of the controlling lever g. The pressure of the spring 0causes the pin 1!) to expand the split end of the shaft 7 to grip thesleeve 79 and, assuming that the cord p is wound upon the sleeve, asindicated in the drawings and the cam 0 be caused to actuate the lever 0to relieve the pressure on the pin 39, the friction between the splitend of the shaft and the sleeve p will consequently be relieved, andallow the latter, under the influence of the weight 39 to be revolved sothat the weight will be lowcred and strike the lever 10*, which, throughthe medium of the cord 0, will lower the controlling lever 9 against thepull of the spring and connect the members of the main clutch so thatmotion is imparted to the roiling gear, the said lever 9 being held inthe lowered position by the engagement of the catch with the hookedextension 9 q is the lever for starting the machine, which lever is ofbell crank form pivoted at to the upper part of the standard a and inthe stopped position bears against the controlling lever g and holds itin an inter mediate position, as indicated in Fig. 5, in which theroller 70 is out of contact with the belt f The said lever q is providedwith a stop pin which, in the said stopped position, holds the catch insuch a position that it cannot engage with the hooked extension 9 Bymoving the said lever g to the dotted line position in the said Fig. 5,it will be seen that the controlling lever 9 will be free to rise underthe pull of its sprinrr (i so that the toggle levers 76 70 will be movedto cause the friction roller 70 to V engage with the pulley belt 7 andwheel lever 0 to release the weight p and through the medium of thelever 39* and cord p t0 lower the controlling lever 9 into engagementwith the catch 9 The shaft is will thus cease rotating on thedisengagement of the roller [13 with the wheel Z0 and belt 7"", and thepulley 7 will be caused to engage with the member P so that the coilinggear will be rotated to deliver a running coil on to the table A.

Thestarting lever q is held in the dotted lined position by a pivotedlatch 1' against the pull of a tension spring 9 the said latch having anotch r in which engages a projection r on the starting lever g, so thatit is necessary, when stopping the machine, that the latch r be liftedin order that the starting lever 9 may be drawn to the full lineposition under the influence of the spring 9 This stopping operation isalso automatically effected if the wire being coiled should issue fromtheicoiling mechanism deformed, and for this purpose we employ asolenoid s, the core 8 of which is connected by a rod sto the latch vrand form of a semicircular piece of sheet metal 0 with which thedeformed wire is designed to contact and which is carried on butinsulated from the standard a and in electrical connection by a wire 8with the insulated contact on the lever 9. One terminal of the solenoidis connected to the other pole of the sourceof current whilst the otherterminal is connected to the frame as indicated. Assuming the machine tobe running, the lever 9 being in the dotted line position, if the: wirebeing coiled should become deformed so that ittouches the shield 0*,current will circulate through the stud 8 the contact on the lever g,the wire 8 the said shield, the coiling die 0 and the frame a to thesolenoid s so that the core 8 will be sucked into the latter and liftthe lever r.

The cams 0, Z j n indicated in the development figure l5 anddiametrically in the order of working in Fig. 24 and effecting,respectively, the operation of the coiling gear, the lateral feed orrotation of the positioning rollers i, i the longitudinal movement ofthe said rollers and the operation of the movable cutting member 0relatively to the fixed cutting member to sever the'coils or strands,are similar to those described in our said Patent No. 1,431,645 formaking coiled wire fabric of plain weave and the order of working ofwhich cams for this latter purpose is illustrated in Fig. 25. Oncomparison of these two Figures 24 and 25 it will be seen that the orderof the four cams for making the diagonal weave and the plain weave isthe same but they are arranged in four sets around the'cam shaft formaking the diagonal weave as against two sets for making the plainweave.

In the operation assume that four coils o, v c c Fig. 16, have beensuccessively delivered by the coiling mechanism, the required lateraland longitudinal positioning of each coil to receive the next run-incoil having been effected by hand and assume now that the said coilshave been moved laterally into engagement with the positioning rollersi, 2' whereby the said coils are secured against longitudinal movementwhilst the next coil is being run in. Assume now that the machine isrunning and that one of the cams j for instance, that at the top of Fig.2a has operated'to position the coils ,4), 0 ,12 a backward with respectto the cutting mechanism. The coiling gear will then be brought intooperation by the next adjacent cam 0 and the first coil '12 of the nextset of four coils will be run in and engage the coils v and o and thenext adjacent cam 01 will actuate the cutting member 0 to sever the saidcoil v The next adjacent cam Z will then cause the rotation of therollers z, 2' to effect the feed of the fabric laterally. The second cam7' in the order of Working will now come into operation and effect aforward movement of the fabric by means of the rollers 2', 2' so as tobring the coil 01* into the position indicated in 16. The coiling gearwill then again come into operation by the action of the second cam 0and the second coil 41 of the next set of coils will be run in andengage the coils o and o, as indicated by the dotted lines in the saidfigure, and be severed by the action of the second cam n. The second camZ will then come into operation and cause'the rotation of the rollers2', 2' to again feed the fabric laterally. The other two sets of cams 7'Z n, 0 will effect the running in of the next two coils v 1;, Figs. 20and 21, to complete the sec ond set of four coils, the cam at the top ofFig. 2 then again operating to position the fabric backward intoposition to receive the first coil o Fig.22, of another set of fourcoils, and so on.

By the described mode of operation it will be understood that we areenabled to produce a coiled wire fabric of diagonal weave the ends ofwhich are square with, or at right angles to, the sides as indicatedclearly in Fig. 23, the cut ends of every fourth coil being level orterminating in a straight line which is at right angles or square withthe axes of the coils themselves.

Instead of forming the rollers i, i with taining the coils in their'sitions longitudinally, the first five coils,

longitudinal parallel ribs or fins as described in our Patent N 0.1,431,645 which are not adapted for engagement with the diagonal weavefabric, we form one of such rollers with spirally arranged ribs w asindicated clearly in Figs. 17, 18 and 1.9, which ribs engage with thediagonal grooves .93 in the fabric, whilst the spaces between the wiresforming such grooves are engaged by teeth 00 on the other roller. Toassist in mainproper relative poy, are pierced by the teeth u of ahorizontal comb connected by a frame a to the lower housing 2'.

In the drawings, it will be noticed that the fabrics therein shown aremade of single ply, that is of one wire only for each coil, but it is tobe understood that two or more wires can be employed for each coil.

By the employment of the positioning rollers we are enabled to producefabrics the coils of which are of very small diameter and pitch ascompared with fabrics hitherto made.

hat we claim and Letters Patent is 1. In a machine for manufacturingdiagonal weave coiled wire fabrics of rectangular form, a coilingmechanism adapted to twist wire into a substantially helical strand,feeding members for gripping and positioning the fabric, said memberscooperating with the coiling mechanism to retain the fabric in adefinite position while a strand produced by the coiling mechanism isbeing intertwisted into a plurality of the strands of the fabric, meansfor cutting the wire after a predetermined length of the same has beencoiled by the coiling mechanism, and condesire to secure by trollingmechanism functioning to intermittently actuate the coiling mchanism,feeding members and cutting means successively in the order named, andto move the feeding members intermittently and progressively toward thecutting means until more than one strand has been severed by the cuttingmeans.

2. A machine for manufacturing diagonal weave coiled wire fabrics ofrectangular form, including coiling mechanism ar ranged to twist wireinto substantially helical form, means for feeding the wire relativelytothe coiling mechanism, gripping members arranged to engage and holdthe fabric in position while a coil from the coiling mechanism isintertwisting with a plurality of coils of the fabric, means for cuttingthe wire after each coil has been intertwisted with the coils of thefabric, and means for actuating the gripping members to cause the latterto intermittently feed the fabric transversely into positions to permitthe coiling mechanism to intertwist a coil into a plurality of coils ofthe fabric, and

other means for actuating the gripping members to intermittently andprogressively feed said members toward the cutting means during the timethat the cutting means is actuating a plurality of times.

3. A machine for manufacturing coiled wire fabric, comprising incombination means for coiling wire, means for severing each coil afterthe latter has been run into the fabric, positioning mechanism grippingthe fabric and holding the latter in such position that a coil from thecoiling means will be intertwisted with a plurality of the coils of thefabric, means actuating the positioning mechanism to cause the latter tofeed the fabric transversely after each operation of the severing means,and other means actuating the gripping mechanism to cause the latter tofeed the fabric toward the coiling means progressively after eachsevering op eration until more than two severing operations have takenplace, said last mentioned means functioning to move the positioningmechanism away from the coiling means after a plurality of severingoperations.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 including a comb arranged in closeproximity to the coiling mechanism and having teeth adapted to extendtransversely'through certain coils of the fabric.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which the positioning mechanismincludes superposed rollers, one of which is provided with spirallyarranged spaced teeth.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which the positioning mechanismincludes superposed rollers, one of which is provided with spirallyarranged spaced ribs and the other of which has spirally'arranged spacedteeth.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which the positioningmechanismactuating means includes cam elements adapted to con trol the lastmentioned means and-arranged to cause first the severing of a coil;second, the feeding of the fabric transversely; third, the feeding ofthe fabric toward the coiling means; fourth, the operation of thecoiling means to produce an additional coil; fifth, the severing of thelast mentioned coil; sixth, a further movement of the fabrictransversely and seventh, thef'urther movement of the fabric forwardlytoward the coiling means.

HENRY ARTHUR FRASER.

